The sun is out, the temperatures are at Sahara Desert levels, optimism is high and there are season tickets to move. And why not be upbeat, as Crunch owner Howard Dolgon was at Wednesday's fan forum? That's what the off-season is for, right?

If you missed the gathering in the team's locker room, here are some of the highlights:

On the deal with Anaheim, which runs through this season:

"We're going to determine what's best for our franchise over the next couple of months. No doubt, the future of this franchise is very secure, both from an ownership standpoint and having an affiliate long-term.

"We know what deals are up (after this year). My job is to protect the interests of our franchise. If we make enemies along the way, so be it. If you don't have that (close) relationship (with the parent team), you have no chance of winning.''

His conversations with Anaheim GM Bob Murray:

"He said our players (last year) were bad. We had bad players. We had bad goaltending and some of the players we selected weren't good. I respected the candidness of Bob.

"To me, Anaheim has certainly stepped up (with free agent signings). Again, the proof will be in the pudding when the puck drops. Our optimism is certainly much higher than it was this time last year. I think we're in a much better spot than we were 12 months ago, for sure.

"I like to think last year was an aberration (for Anaheim). We spoke our peace. We are certainly not going to make excuses for them.''

I asked what assurances he got that the Ducks' high-priced two-way guys would play here if sent to the AHL, and not be loaned to another organization.

"Those players will be here if they are in the minors.''

Syracuse's coaching staff, which the Ducks bolstered with new assistants Brad Lauer and Marty Wilford:

"I think what Bob did in the offseason, adding a veteran presence in Lauer, then adding a defensive coach (Wilford), showed he's serious about taking the coaching situation and making it better.

"I think in Mark (Holick's) defense, he was given a young team. Maybe there are things Mark will do differently. It's important for Bob to develop coaches, too. His moves this off-season, they speak volumes. it also shows they are not sparing expenses.''

How close did Syracuse come to breaking up with Anaheim this summer:?

"I don't think we really had an option to change this summer, to be honest with you.''

His thoughts on the Silver Knights, the new indoor soccer team in the War Memorial:

"Listen. We want this building to be successful. We hope they do 6,000 a game. The more concessions that are sold, the more bodies that are in here, it's good for everybody.''

Dolgon also had several interesting schedule tidbits:

- He said he wanted to schedule a trip to Texas, but that would have made the conference schedule too unbalanced.

- He loped off four games against Norfolk to play St. John's four times, to get some more variety in the schedule.

- If Syracuse plays Norfolk or St. John's in the first round of the playoffs, here's how it would work. The series would be best-of-5, but because of the long travel it would be in a 2-3 format. The higher-seeded team would have the option of taking the first two games at home or the last three.

- There were some teams in the AHL that wanted to drop down to a 72-game schedule. The Crunch opposed that because its travel costs are reasonable and it has a great lease, making home dates profitable. Eventually, the compromise was to go to 76, from the current 80. After two seasons of 76 games, the Board of Governors will review whether to stay at that number.

- Syracuse has locked in two preseason games, one home and one away. A third game, at SUNY Oswego, is still up in the air.

- When the AHL season starts the weekend of Oct. 7, Anaheim, along with Buffalo, LA and the Rangers, will be opening their NHL seasons overseas. That means the Crunch could be missing a couple of top players who would've started here but were taken by Anaheim on the trip as insurance. Dolgon said as an issue of fairness he's asked the AHL to make Syracuse's opening foe the farm team of one of those other three teams, so that everyone is on equal footing there.

Syracuse does not play LA's affiliate, Manchester, this season. So that could mean the Crunch drops the puck at either Rochester (Buffalo) or Connecticut (Rangers).